Conventional urinary drainage bags are commonly strapped to a patient""s leg above the knee, as disclosed in Barto U.S. Pat No. 3,897,785, so that urine will flow into the bag under the influence of gravity. For an ambulatory patient, such an arrangement is often inconvenient and uncomfortable because, as such a bag becomes filled with urine, there is a tendency for it to slide downwardly along the leg unless additional means are provided on the bag to restrain such sliding movement. Also, such leg bags may be conspicuous through clothing as the bags become filled and may be awkward to drain.
Cawood U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,971 discloses that gravity flow is not essential for purposes of filling a urine collection bag. Intrinsic bladder detrusor muscle tone and intraperitoneal pressures exerted upon the bladder of a catheterized ambulatory patient will cause urine to flow from the bladder to a level as high as 10 centimeters or more above the distal tip of the catheter. A highly effective urinary drainage system may therefore be provided for an ambulatory patient in which the collection bag is carried by a waistband or belt and is worn over the patient""s abdomen instead of along the inside of the leg.
The bag disclosed in the Cawood patent has a short valve-equipped drain tube that extends downwardly from the bag when the contents are to be drained and that may be folded upwardly and inserted into a pocket provided by the bag when the drain tube is not in use. While such a drain tube may work satisfactorily for an ambulatory patient who is capable of standing with a urine collection bag positioned above a toilet bowl, and then manipulating the drain valve so that the contents of the bag may flow by gravity into the bowl, such a procedure may be difficult if not impossible for patients who are confined to wheelchairs. Such a patient must either try to standxe2x80x94a manuever that may involve considerable riskxe2x80x94or must disconnect the bag from its waist strap (or unbuckle the waist strap) so that the bag may be held over the toilet bowl and drained.
A main aspect of this invention therefore lies in providing a urine collection bag of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,971 with an extendable and retractable drainage tube that allows the contents of such a bag to be drained into a toilet bowl even by a patient confined to a wheelchair and without first requiring removal of the bag by the patient. Specifically, the improvement takes the form of an elongated flexible plastic drainage tube that is in the shape of a flat coil, preferably of oval outline, and is connected or connectable to the valved drain port of the urine collection bag. The drain tube may be permanently attached to the port or, in a preferred embodiment, may be detachably joined to that port. The tube is of soft, flexible thermoplastic material and is thermoformed so that it is biased to assume its flattened coiled shape in the absence of forces applied to extend it. In its coiled condition, the drain tube lies flat against the front wall of the pouch and is held in that position by a retention strap which traverses the front wall of the pouch.
Another advantage of the present construction is that it facilitates use by patients with high urine volume output at night. The elongated drainage tube may be uncoiled and directed into a bedside receptacle, thus allowing a patient to wear an abdominal bag throughout the night without the risks of contamination that might arise if the abdominal bag and its catheter had to be removed and replaced by other drainage means for nighttime use. Similarly, the elongated drain tube allows a patient to wear an abdominal bag even while undergoing a surgical operation, since urine draining from the bag allows urine output to be monitored by an anesthesiologist. Upon completion of the operation, the drain tube may be disconnected from the bedside receptacle, allowed to return to its coiled condition, and replaced under the retaining strap of the abdominal bag, thus restoring the abdominal bag to its original condition for outpatient use.
Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the specification and drawings.